Heiress or Mate?

Chapter 7 - Scent

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Eureka

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I turn to my side, reaching for my mate, and my eyes open when I feel nothing. “Goddess,” I sit up, running my fingers through my hair, realizing I overslept, but I breathe a sigh of relief when I glance at the time. I’m on time. Just then, the smell of bacon greets my nose, and I get up and head to the bathroom. When I come out, I pick up Andreas’ shirt lying on the floor and throw it on, inhaling deeply at my favorite scent as I walk out of the room, following in the direction of the aroma. I’m famished.

“Good morning, my Knuddelbärchen,” he says, walking up to me, half-naked with an apron on, and I feel a familiar clench down below, turning his eyes darker as he connects our lips.

“Morning,” I whisper against his chest as he holds me in a tight hug before we share a kiss again. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” I ask, looking into his eyes while he’s cupping my face, and I see something change.

“You know I hate doing that,” he softly says before pecking me on the lips and taking my hand. “Come, breakfast is ready,” he adds, leading me to the table, but I stop, causing him to stop as well. “What’s wrong?” he asks, stepping up to me, now frowning in concern, and I bury myself against his chest, suddenly emotional.

Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night and came to the kitchen to get some water. While walking through the living area, I kicked something with my foot, and when I looked, it was Andreas’s phone that I had thrown on the sofa; it had fallen off. I picked it up, and I don’t know why I did that, but I suddenly had the urge to turn it on. I did, and there were missed calls and messages from Veil, asking if he was okay and telling him she missed him. The last one said she was at his apartment, and I finally broke. I sat down on the floor and cried. Andreas entered, probably woken up by my emotions, and I quickly put the phone away when I felt him coming.

He asked what was wrong, and I said it was nothing and just asked him to hold me. I didn’t want to burden his heart. I know it’s not easy for him either, and I try to be strong for us, for our family, but sometimes it’s hard. I die inside every time he walks out that door, and I have to put on a collar.

He had one specially made for me and covered in emeralds, so it looks like a beautiful piece of jewelry instead of what it is: a piece of death. I used to have it on all the time in the beginning because I didn’t want to know the exact time he’d be doing it with her, but I realized I was killing Wilde, and it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t deserve to suffer like that, so I asked him to give me a heads up when he would be going to her, and I put it on so I wouldn’t feel him with her.

I tell him I don’t feel like going to work today, and he pulls back from the hug and cups my face. “Then don’t; I’ll tell them you’re sick,” he says. I nod and hug him for a long moment before he pulls back and tells me he loves me again. My stomach grumbles, and he takes my hand and leads me to the table. I make a small prayer as I settle down, asking the gods for help — asking them to kill the demon monster that has ruined our lives so we can live in peace every day for the rest of our lives. I’ve been making the same prayer every day for ten, yes, but the monster continues to thrive. I’d give anything to live with my mate without fear— without having to hide from anyone or do stupid, hard labor for some brits. But I don’t complain because Andreas will force me to quit, but I can’t. I want to help him. Plus, it’s better when I’m there, too, looking the b***h in the eye and thinking of painful ways of ending her miserable existence. I hate her for f*****g, man.

I still remember the night Andreas told me what Hades wanted him to do; I spent the entire night crying. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to do it, but I did. It’s been hell, but we are almost done, and now I don’t know what new hell awaits us.

Andreas catches me looking at him and smiles. I returned it, sad for my mate. This is just wrenching for him too. Just then, a message comes through on his phone. He looks at it and says it’s Kolten. I ask who Kolten is since I’ve never heard of him before, and he says it’s one of Hades’ tech guys. He says he’s never met him either, but Hades told him he’d be hacking into Milan Vogt’s server and getting him the files he needed. I nod again, reminded of just how powerful the monster is.

Andreas told me he doesn’t use anyone from the outside when I was shocked that he put him through varsity. I've never known anyone to care about their slaves' education. Andreas is an accountant and the chief accounting officer at Vogt. Before Andreas came into his life, Milan Vogt owned ten mines, among other business ventures. Five were emerald mines, and the other five were gold and diamond.

Hades wants his mines. At first, Andreas used Millan's businesses to hide Hades’ illegal billions. But two years ago, Hades decided he wanted the mines for himself to do it freely without fear of being caught one day. He’s already acquired some of the biggest mines, but most operate underground, costing him a lot to maintain their cover. So he was using Vogt's business to keep the authorities off his back. He's got people in his pocket, but this way, he saves money.

After deciding he wanted the mines, he made Milan an offer for two of his diamond mines because he wanted to venture into diamonds as well, but Milan didn’t want to sell no matter what Hades offered, so Hades devised another plan. He didn’t want to take them over by force because that would have defeated the purpose. So instead, he tried to acquire them legally, and that’s when sabotage came in. Andreas had people on the ground, causing damage that cost Milan billions while he laundered his money and manipulated figures to make him think his business was sinking. He eventually caved three months ago and sold two of his mines to Hades, but now he has resisted and pissed Hades off. Hades wants everything now, and Veil is the ticket. But last week, Millan’s friend, an accountant and CEO of one of his companies came down to look at Milan’s financial statements to see how he could help, and they kept everything they were doing to themselves. He's never kept anything from Andreas before, which worried us. It’s also why we needed help hacking into the files to find out what they’ve been up to.

Andreas is not working for Hades by choice. Hades took over the small village he lived in and forced everyone into slavery. Those who couldn’t work were killed, and the fit ones were sent into the two mines next to the village he took over. He gave Andreas and the other boys a choice: work as his soldiers or work from dusk till dawn in the mines without the possibility of ever seeing the sun. If you chose to be a soldier—as he calls them—your family was also freed or, sort of, since they still live in the village he built and are monitored. He tore the village down when he took over the mines, rebuilt it, and made it a fortress. Only selected families live there—families with people who work for him.

I met Andreas ten years ago at a bar I was working at; he was working as a scout back then. Scouts kidnap people and take them to the mines to ensure there’s always enough since some die from the hard labor. We discovered we were mates and spent our first night at my tiny apartment. We never slept a wink that night and passed out in the morning. When I woke up, I was alone, and he was gone. There was no note, nothing, and I didn’t even know where he lived because we never spoke when we got there. We just f****d like it was our last day on earth. He kept shushing me every time I tried to ask something.

Every time someone tall entered the bar, I would look up, thinking it was him, but he never came, and I broke in the third month. I had found my mate, and he made me a one-night stand and never looked back. I couldn’t work at the bar anymore. I couldn’t even live in that town.

At least if I left, I’d comfort myself by saying he didn’t know where I was and that he was searching for me. So I called my boss in the middle of the night and resigned. He didn’t understand because he knew I needed the money, but I couldn’t explain it. After ending the call with him, I got up and headed to the bar to get the stuff I kept there. I was leaving town that night, not knowing where I was going or how I would survive there without money or a job. But his grunts and my moans haunted me in my apartment. I hated it.

It was 2 am when I got to the bar, the skies were dark, resembling my inner turmoil, and the rain was pouring. I collected all my things; some were medals I achieved in high school and college. My parents’ photos were also there. My apartment was in a rough neighborhood, and break-ins were our daily bread, so I kept some of my prized possessions at work. I took a small safe my boss wanted to give to the metal scrap people and used it for myself. He didn’t mind; he knew my situation and was a very understanding boss.

I held the things against my chest and covered them with a jacket to keep them from getting wet as I ran to the car, and I will never forget how I cried when I looked up and saw him leaning against my old truck with his hair stuck to his face as the rain drenched him. I had never cried like that before.

He took me to his place, and that’s when he told me everything. I was shocked. I mean, who the hell takes over people’s lives like that? I have never heard of anything so vile. He had returned to reject me but said he couldn’t go through with it. Hades had also changed him from being a scout; he had another job he was assigned to now. So, we've been playing this cat-and-mouse game with him since then. And whenever I think of how I can’t mark him, my heart bleeds. He marked me, but I can’t mark him and complete the process, or Hades will know he accepted his mate, and his family will be thrown back in the mines. Because we haven’t completed the process, we can’t mind link like regular mates. I can mind link him since his mark is on me, and he can respond, but I have to link him first. I didn’t understand it at first and thought since he marked me, he was the one who should be able to link me, but he said the mark makes the wolf stronger, so my wolf is now stronger than his.

He says he will look at the file when he gets to the office, and I pray everything will be alright. Hades doesn’t take kindly to failure.

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Linton

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“Mm!” I hear faint voices, and I slowly open my eyes.

“Welcome to the land of the living. I was beginning to worry,” someone speaks to my right, and I look to see a man standing in the doorway.

“Wh-where-“

“Take it easy; have some water first. That stuff roasts your throat,” he says, helping me sit up as I almost fall back, feeling strangely weak.

“Your wolf is busy working all the s**t out of your system. You are going to be alright,” he adds, and just then, there is a knock on the door, and a woman enters, carrying a steaming bowl, and she smiles when our eyes lock. “Thank you, honey,” the man says, taking the bowl from her. “This is my wife, Rebecca,” he adds, and she smiles again. “I’m Sawyer. You are in our home,” he continues, sitting on the bed next to me, and I introduce myself back. He tells me to drink the soup, saying it will clear out the sedative faster and make me feel like myself again. I ask where he found me, and he says at the animal shelter. Just then, everything that happened before I passed out come flooding back.

“How-how?” I ask, and he tells me to calm down, his eyes flashing orange as he does, and I feel Calyx calming down. Our wolves come forward when we meet fellow wolves as an assurance that we mean no harm, but it can also be a warning if accompanied by a low growl. He says he was passing by on a jog when he saw men running out of the animal shelter, spooked. He says he heard them tell another man who was coming from a car parked up front that I turned into a man, and he could immediately pick up a wolf's scent. He went to the men, who he says were traumatized, and asked them to show him, but they were too scared to go inside. He did, and he saw me lying in the cage naked and unconscious.

“And they just let you take me?” I ask when he doesn’t continue and notice a change in his eyes. “Goddess, you killed them,” I whisper, and he nods, causing his wife to walk to him and hug him.

“I had to. They saw you.”

“I’m so sorry,” I softly say, tears escaping my eyes. Three innocent people are dead because of me. I forced someone to commit murder. He asks me what happened and how I ended up there, saying he saw the footage, and I don’t know what to say. I still don’t know what happened. My mate was a wolf one minute, and the next, she wasn’t.

“My mate and I got into it,” I reply, not looking at him as Calyx whimpers in my head, and he nods.

His wife leaves, and he asks me how I’m feeling before telling me where the bathroom is and that he will get me something to wear since I’m naked. He also invites me to breakfast, but I don’t want to stay. I want to go; Cas must be going out of his mind. I thank him and ask if I could borrow a phone.

He says he’ll be back and heads out of the room, and I link my sister. I tell her I’m okay, but she starts crying in the link. She asks me where I am, saying she and mom were up all night. I apologize, getting emotional hearing them cry like that, and just then, mom joins in on the link. I tell them I will tell them everything when I get home, but I assure them I’m okay. Ness asks if I’ve spoken to Cas yet, and I tell her I’m about to call him now, and Sawyer enters with the phone as I do. I tell them I have to go; I will speak to them again soon, and they tell me they love me.

I love you guys too.

I cut the link as he walks over to the bed and hands me his cell phone and clothes.

“It’s not what you young ones wear,” he says, and I thank him and tell him the clothes are fine. He nods and says he’ll be in front, and I thank him again, but the words die in my throat, and the phone slips out of my hand as my body suddenly feels like it’s been set alight. My stomach turns, and I jump out of bed and run to the bathroom, where I throw up before even kneeling on the toilet. It feels like lava-coated hands are caressing me, and I groan in pain. The little strength I had drains from my body, and the pain intensifies in my arms, causing me to look at them, and my heart ceases in my chest. My arms are covered with bond burns, and I feel them spreading to my neck. I’ve never seen them before, but I know what they are. Every wolf knows. I didn’t think my heart could hurt any more than it already did, but I was wrong. It’s bleeding right now.

“It’s okay. You are okay,” I whisper to Calyx as he starts whimpering in pain, knowing it's worse for him.

“Are you okay?” Sawyer knocks on the door, and I tell him I am, getting to my feet. I flush and rinse my mouth, and he brings a glass of water. I open the door to take it, and even though he doesn’t say anything, the shock that turns to sadness is visible in his eyes when they land on the burn marks on my skin. He leaves after that.

Feeling better, I come out, and I'm surprised to find him sitting on the bed. He gets up and walks up to me before placing his hand on my shoulder and saying it’s going to be okay. I feel tears pooling in my eyes, but I’m afraid I’ll fall apart if I start crying. Calyx has stopped whimpering. He’s quiet now; it's like he's not there. Sawyer reminds me again that breakfast is ready, and I thank him, but I can't eat anything right now. I’m breaking.

I ask where we are, and he tells me before walking out the door. I dial Cas’s number, and he starts screaming at me on the other side. Apologizing is the only thing I can manage right now, so I tell him I’m sorry, having no strength to say anything else. He asks where I am, and I tell him. He says he’ll be here in twenty, and I end the call after that. I get dressed in the man’s clothes and sit on the bed when I’m done, but just then, I hear a knock on the door, and he enters with coffee. I don’t want it. I don’t want anything, but I take it, knowing he’s just trying to be there for me. I appreciate him and his wife. He saved my life. I thank him again, and he says not to mention it, adding we have to look out for each other. I tell him my friend is coming to get me and warn him he’s human and doesn’t know what I am. He understands.

He starts conversing, but I don't hear anything he's saying. I'm busy taking short quiet breaths to keep myself from screaming as Calyx’s pain comes crashing back and overwhelms me. I don’t even know what hurts the most. The fact that I know she’s screwing someone right now in the middle of everything, or that I’m gutted by it even though she’s made it clear how she feels.

I wish I never came here. I struggle to hold back my tears when I think about how happy I was when Cas told me about the job. I was finally going to have enough to cover my sister’s tuition. If only I’d known.

I’m jolted out of my thoughts by Sawyer’s phone, and he hands it over to me. It’s Cas. He says he’s here. Sawyer and I head outside and see him park outside the yard. I thank Sawyer again, shaking his hand, and I also head inside the house and thank his wife. I leave after that, and Cas steps out of the car when he sees me coming.

“My God, Linton. What the—” he starts to say, but I break down and cry, unable to hold myself back anymore. He hugs me, and I fall apart in his arms.

“I want to go home,” I tell him, and he responds with a thick voice, saying we are going home. I don't know how long we stand there hugging each other next to the car before we both pull back, wiping our tears. We get in the car, and he starts the drive. I expect him to ask me questions, but he doesn’t. All he says is that his aunt said we no longer have to finish the job. She said we could come back and finish it some other time, but I don’t think she meant that. I’m also never setting foot in this place again. He says she paid for the full job, but I’m not going to accept money I didn’t earn. So, I tell myself first thing when we get home; I will reverse the p*****t.

We remain quiet the whole drive, and after what feels like forever, we arrive at Veil’s house. We exit the car, and Veil’s mom comes rushing over to us, asking if I’m okay. I tell her I am, and I don’t miss how she doesn’t ask where I was. I ask to be excused and head upstairs to start packing. I want to get out of here. A moment later, Cas enters with his bags. He says the maid packed for him when he went to fetch me. Just then, the maid enters and asks if I need help. I tell her I'm fine, but I end up asking her to excuse us after she stands there staring at me. She's weird.

When I’m done, I grab my phone, which is still where I left it, and reverse the p*****t. We head out after that, but we find Veil’s mom waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a look I can’t decipher.

She says she got a notification that I reversed the p*****t. I tell her I did, thanking her for her kindness, but I can’t accept money for something I didn’t do. She tries to insist that I take it, but I decline.

“Castiel,” she says, but just then, the scent that’s caused me so much misery greets my nose, and I look up to be met with the familiar cold green eyes, and she reeks of him. She walks over to us and hugs Castiel goodbye before looking at me and saying she’s glad I’m okay. I try to reply, but I can’t; his scent is suffocating me.

She leaves and goes back upstairs. There's an awkward silence for a moment after that, but I frown, noticing the scent is getting stronger instead of fading even though she's gone. Just then, the maid walks up to us and asks if we need help with the bags, and my eyes widen, realizing she’s the reason the scent is getting stronger. She reeks of him too, and it's even stronger on her, which means he’s a wolf.

“Goddess,” I whisper, noticing the mark on her neck.

She's his mate?

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Those who read Huntress Or Mate? Will know Hades' story with slaves and mates. If you haven't, when you have time, go read Chapter 6- Soldier, Kolten's POV, and you will get a better understanding of why they are so afraid of him.

It's a free chapter.

I hope this helps.

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